The Avengers - Infinity Wars
by amandakid212
Summary: A potential plot for the next Avengers film. Thanos wants to assemble the infinity gems to control the universe, and the Avengers, despite the lack of training of the new recruits, must stop him. The Vision is especially in danger, since he possesses an infinity gem to survive, and Wanda Maximoff isn't sure she can handle another loss of a loved one.
1. Chapter 1

With a roar, Heimdall plunged his sword into the cold, gray chest of his attacker. It screeched, its glowing red eyes burning brighter than ever. Heimdall was nearly flung to the ground as the human-like creature twisted and writhed with the sword still wrenched in its torso. He'd never seen anything like in all his years as an Asgard warrior. Narrowly avoiding the creature's axe, he yanked the sword from its chest and skirted to the side. The creature continued its scream, wailing and wielding its axe as vehemently as before it was wounded, apparently unfazed by this injury.

Beside him, Thor gritted his teeth and engaged in combat with the creature, swinging his hammer and trying to push it backward and out of the golden hallway in Asgard's palace. His palace. Thor would not tolerate intruders in his own home, where he grew up so happy and safe. Especially since he pledged to keep what it was after just as safe.

The creature was not alone: dozens of gray bodies with glowing eyes trudged down the golden hall waving weapons wildly. Thor and his fellow warriors fought with vigor, but the creatures were not falling as they were hurt. What should have been fatal wounds did not hinder them at all, and they pressed toward the giant door at the end of the hall. A faint blue light shone through the bottom of the door. Thor couldn't let them get that far, and with a war cry, he renewed his fight, swinging his hammer with ten times the vigor he had before.

But blue light burst into the scene—someone had opened the door. Thor turned with a start to see a silver shadow pick up a glowing, pulsating Tesseract. At its touch the cube shrank into a small stone. Thor roared and charged toward the door. The shadow looked up, and Thor was surprised to see shocking blue eyes rather than the eerie red ones he'd seen from his foes thus far. And then the shadow was gone, along with the stone. The stone—one of six infinity gems—was one of the most powerful forces to ever exist. In the wrong hands, unspeakable horrors could occur, disrupting the fate of the entire universe. And Thor just watched it disappear with a shadow.

The creatures began to fall back, their intended object retrieved, and the Asgard warriors chased them out of the hall. Heimdall stayed behind, looked back at the vulnerable open doorway, and then back at Thor, his enraged leader. Thor's chest was heaving and his knuckles were white as he gripped his hammer tightly. Heimdall recognized his ruler was about to leave the realm and jumped out of the way. With a roar, Thor raised his hammer into the air. His voice was drowned out by a clap of thunder, and a lightning bolt struck the hammer, engulfing Thor in a flash of light. In a moment, he was gone, leaving an old Norse pattern on the golden marble behind.

When the blinding light faded, Thor found himself surrounded by broken glass and a vast array of items and furniture tossed all around him. The white fluorescent lights cast an eerie glow over the collection of objects of all sizes, shapes, and colors that surrounded him. Thor felt the panic rise in his chest when he saw the state of the place, especially when he saw a man with bleached spiked hair holding his head in his hands on the other side of the room. Thor stomped his way through the debris toward the Collector, who looked up miserably at his approach.

"Don't," the Collector held up a hand. "I don't want to hear it."

"Then it's been stolen?" Thor's fury rose like bile in his throat.

"Yes, yes," the Collector moaned. "My collection… ruined…"

"Enough," Thor roared. "Who did this?"

"You don't know?" The Collector was suddenly amused. "Was your gem not also taken from right under your nose? And you still don't know?"

He cackled, and Thor remained stone-faced. "He wants to rule the universe. And he'll do it too. He's almost got all six."

"Who does?" Thor snarled with impatience.

The Collector smirked, but his eyes clouded. "Thanos."

Thor's jaw clenched, but he knew there was no time to hesitate. "We need help. We need the Avengers." He thrust his hammer into the air and disappeared with another flash of lightning.

The Collector stared at the burned Norse insignia on the polished floors. "Great," he muttered. "More damages. Just what I needed."


	2. Chapter 2

Wanda Maximoff yelped as a large fist came toward her face, and the red light burst from her hands before she could stop herself. Colonel James Rhodes grunted and flew back twenty feet into a padded wall, finally landing on the gym mat with a thud.

"I am sorry, Colonel," Wanda said, pinning her hands to her side. "It will not happen again."

"That's what you said last time." Rhodes stood heavily and jogged back to his sparring partner.

"I mean it," Wanda stated firmly. Her fingers curled into fists so that her nails dug into her palms.

"I think Cap made it clear how important it is to learn to fight without your powers," Rhodes said. "Anything can happen out there."

Wanda scoffed at this vague "out there." She had been training with the Avengers for two months, never leaving the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. Bulletproof glass windows surrounded the training room where they stood and let in sunlight, but it had been a long time since she breathed natural air. And at the rate of her training, she doubted she'd see what was "out there" any time soon.

She peered at the sparring match beside her. The Vision levitated about a foot off the ground, cape billowing behind him, and Sam Wilson—or as he was known on the battlefield, Falcon—was shaking his head.

"Bro, we're not using powers right now," Wilson said with exasperation. This was not the first time they'd had this argument. "That means no flying!"

"But I always fly," the Vision said simply in that matter-of-fact way he always spoke, with no ounce of manipulation or social consideration. Wanda found it refreshing.

"But what if you can't?" Wilson urged.

"But I can."

"But something could happen."

"You can fly, too."

"But we're not flying right now. This is just hand-to-hand combat. Man-to-man."

The Vision furrowed his brows at Wilson's last phrase, but landed lightly with both feet on the ground. Wanda winced. The Vision wasn't quite human, though his body functioned as one. Essentially, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner had uploaded artificial intelligence into an artificially constructed body. He walks and talks like a man, but there was some distance between him and men like Wilson. He knew it, and Wanda couldn't quite sense if he wanted to keep it that way. While Wanda could get inside the minds of men, getting in touch with their greatest dreams and fears, she didn't know much about the Vision. He didn't dwell on dreams and fears like most men and he really hadn't experienced much life yet to fully develop some, Wanda guessed. Exploring his mind was a curious experience, though somewhat relaxing.

"Wanda?" Rhodes brought her back into the reality in front of her. With Wanda's heightened sensitivity to other people's realities, it could be easy to forget her own. But she'd had her powers for a few years now and she thought she had fully developed her barrier between her own and others' realities. Then again, everything had changed since her brother Pietro died.

"Sorry." Wanda dropped her eyes to the ground and resumed a fighting stance.

Rhodes sighed. "I think that's enough for today."

Steve Rogers appeared out of his Captain America uniform behind Rhodes at that moment with Agent Maria Hill.

"It's going to have to be," Steve said. "Something's come up."

Agent Hill led Wanda with Rhodes, Wilson, the Vision, and Steve to a conference room. The large glass windows had the blinds shut tightly, and Hill clicked the doors closed quickly behind them. Natasha Romanoff stood at the head of a long table with a slew of files open in front of her. Her fingers moved at lightning speed as she flicked through papers. Behind her, like a large blond shadow, stood Thor looking grave and ferocious.

"Take a seat, everyone," Hill said striding over to stand next to Natasha.

Wanda took the nearest chair while Rhodes and the Vision chose seats on either side of her. While Natasha was a familiar face around S.H.I.E.L.D. during these last months, she hadn't seen Thor since their battle against Ultron months ago and she had a feeling his appearance today wasn't just a friendly visit with his comrades.

"Something big is happening, and we'll need all the help we can get," Hill said.

"Tony Stark and Clint Barton are on their way here," Natasha added.

"And Banner?" Thor demanded.

"Unable to contact," Natasha said thickly.

"What's going on?" Rhodes asked.

Hill and Thor exchanged looks. "Thanos," Thor said, his voice ringing with ominous menace.

"Who?" Wilson and Rhodes said together.

"An alien crime lord Thanos has stolen five of the six infinity gems, and we have reason to believe he is on his way to Earth to recover the last one," Hill explained. All eyes turned to the Vision who seemed unfazed.

"What happens when he assembles all of the infinity gems?" Wanda asked.

"Nothing," Thor spat, "unless he also possesses the infinity gauntlet."

"Which we suspect he does," Natasha interjected.

"In that case, if he gets his hands on that last infinity gem, he controls the universe," Hill said.

"That cannot happen!" Thor roared.

Steve shrugged and got down to business. "So what do we have to do to defeat this alien scum? What do we know about him?"

The room was quiet for a moment, and Wanda shuddered with the tension as every eye was on Thor. Finally, he spoke and his booming voice hinted at dejection.

"Death herself fights beside him."


	3. Chapter 3

A bulky purple fist opened, and a silver hand dropped a startlingly blue infinity gem into it.

"That will be all," the purple creature boomed, and the silver one disappeared, leaving behind a question it was ever there.

Thanos stood atop a platform in his quarters aboard his starship. He gazed out of a large plastic window at the black infinity of space. His fingers closed over the blue stone, and he raised his other hand which was covered by a golden gauntlet. With gentleness unexpected from his large fingers, he placed the blue stone in an empty hole in the gauntlet, and it began to glow with the same luminance as the four infinity gems beside it. One empty spot remained, and Thanos smirked as he noticed it and then turned his fierce green eyes back to space.

"My daughter," he spoke finally, and a woman with blue skin stepped beside him. Half of her body was metal, mechanical, but her eyes were like coal, black with the potential for burning passion.

He faced Nebula with fondness in his eyes. "My _only_ daughter." He placed his bare hand on her shoulder, and she shivered but then rolled her shoulders back with pride. Nebula had been waiting for this moment since Gamora had betrayed Thanos and joined those ragtag hooligans, the Guardians of the Galaxy—to be acknowledged as the favorite daughter… no, the _only_ daughter.

But Thanos was not smiling. He gripped her shoulder tighter with his massive hand. "Don't disappoint me again."

Nebula winced. Gamora could never do wrong in Thanos's eyes, but even when she denounced him—deserted him—Nebula could not please him. But it was hardly her fault that Ronan proved to be too weak and unworthy to wield any sort of real power, was it? This chance for redemption that Thanos offered would not be squandered. Only when Nebula couldn't hide her grimace of pain did Thanos release her from his grip. He'd grabbed her fleshy shoulder after all, not her newly replaced mechanical one.

"You know what to do," Thanos demanded.

"Of course, Father," Nebula said as her lips curled into a snarl. "If a planet like that produced Peter Quill, it'll soon be sorry it ever bore life."

Thanos did not respond, only faced out to the black of space. Dismissed, Nebula left him, striding with renewed purpose—and vengeance. For a long, stoic moment, Thanos stood in complete stillness. But suddenly his brow furrowed, and he bowed his head submissively.

"I know she's hardheaded and reckless," he said. "You didn't have to come here to tell me that."

A woman in a black hooded cloak materialized behind him, stepping so fluidly it seemed she was floating. Every part of her body was shrouded in dark cloth, but her face—in the shadows of Thanos's quarters—looked like a skull. She spoke with a husky voice, nearly a whisper, but powerful.

"I couldn't care less about your daughter, Thanos," she said. "Believe it or not, I won't have anything to do with her for some time."

Thanos shuddered. He wasn't sure if it was from her words—it was so easy to forget the power she held over all living creatures—or from merely being in her presence. He relished the feeling either way.

"I come with a warning," she continued. "Don't overstep our agreement."

Before Thanos could open his mouth, she interrupted: "Don't play ignorance with me. You know very well what I'm referring to."

"You mean who," Thanos said sadly.

"I don't," she said. "He's been long gone for decades. There's nothing left of him to see. Stop trying. I'm only allowing you to use the soul gem to build your army. Combined with the time gem, you're unstoppable."

"You stopped me," Thanos said.

"I am Death," she said. "I'm a special case."

She placed a gloved hand on his arm. It was freezing, but Thanos didn't care, he covered it with his own thick hand. Feeling even an ounce of the power she wielded ignited a heat inside him. She leaned closer to him and whispered in his ear.

"And the silver one. You're giving him too much power. You're disrupting the line between life and death, which makes my job very difficult. Knock it off."

Thanos closed his eyes. "Anything you say."

Death snorted and pulled away. Mortals were so predictable. And Thanos was useful—he was madly in love with her.

And then she was gone. Thanos could have cried at how quickly she'd disappeared, but he hadn't done that since his father died eons ago. He stared at the green Soul gem in his gauntlet. Possessing a stone was meant to make anyone all powerful, but he was still being controlled. By her—by Death. He hated himself for it, but having her on his side was more satisfying that all the power in the world. Well… maybe not. But he had one more Infinity Gem to find before he would truly know what universal power felt like.


	4. Chapter 4

Agent Hill led the Avengers through the bowels of S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, her heels clacking expertly against the tiled floors. Clint "Hawkeye" Barton had joined them moments before in the conference room, and after little debate, the group was being led through the windowless, fluorescent-lit hallways to a top-secret location.

"This isn't just about us and protecting our planet this time," Agent Hill said. "The fate of the entire universe is at stake. We're working in conjunction with NovaCorps, an intergalactic military organization dedicated to maintaining universal peace and justice."

"Those fools were protecting an infinity gem and lost it," Thor said. "Why should we trust them?"

"We don't have much of a choice." A booming voice came from behind them, and Wanda turned to see Nick Fury, shrouded in his usual heavy black coat and eye patch, following them. When had he joined them? "Some kind of intergalactic law is in effect that in the face of imminent universal danger, all planets and civilizations must cooperate in the defense effort when called upon."

"Besides," Hill added, "they're letting us borrow this."

They had arrived in an open warehouse area that now served as a makeshift garage for a ginormous aircraft. It was bright blue and flat with horizontal extensions coming from its sides. The machine was triple the size of Wanda's childhood home back in Russia, and she could tell this wasn't an average plane. One side of the room had a wall missing, leaving the facility open to the street outside and letting in a fresh breeze.

"The plan is to head off Thanos before he reaches Earth," Natasha said, eyeing the spacecraft suspiciously.

"Think you can fly this, Barton?" Steve said, clapping Clint on the back.

"I'm not an astronaut," Clint retorted. He paused thoughtfully. "But maybe."

"We are going into space?" Wanda couldn't hide the doubt and hesitation she felt. Maybe these soldiers were used to following any order given, but not her. "We are not trained for anything like that!"

Beside her, Rhodes opened his mouth, but Wanda never found out whether he was going to agree with her or not because just then, a shiny black convertible screeched to a halt across the street from the open wall. Tony Stark, dressed to the nines in a tuxedo with designer sunglasses covering his eyes, switched off the ignition to his fancy car and ran a hand through his windblown hair.

"About time you joined us, Stark," Steve said.

Tony didn't flinch but stepped out of his car. "Cute, coming from the man who was cryogenically frozen for 70 years."

"I'm sorry, did we catch you in the middle of something?" Rhodes said, taking in Tony's outfit.

"I'm not just a superhero, Rhodey," Tony said joining the group by the spaceship. "I do have a major corporation to run. And as a matter of fact, you caught me after the middle of something, something I wish I had a little more time to recover from."

Tony took off his sunglasses to reveal a major case of red eye and bags. Of course, the entire universe was in danger and Iron Man was nursing a hangover. Wanda sucked her teeth disapprovingly. They may be fighting on the same side now, but it was going to take a long time before Wanda could accept the selfish, egotistical Tony Stark as a real, trustworthy teammate. She jumped when she felt the Vision's eyes on her. She thought her sound was inaudible over the other Avengers' banter, but the Vision was staring at her and frowning.

And then, as clear as day, his voice echoed in her mind: "Stark is the least of our problems."

Wanda's mouth dropped open, but she clamped it shut again. She hadn't even realized she'd been present in the Vision's mind, but the fact that he noticed… And then responded? She hadn't reached this level of communication with anyone besides Pietro, and she wasn't totally sure he was even completely aware it was happening. Instead, she continued to glare at Tony. But the Vision's voice popped into her head again.

"I trust him."

Wanda sneered and moved her gaze to the ground. Perhaps the Vision had some kind of attachment issue with Tony, since the man essentially created him. Tony Stark nearly destroyed the world with his arrogance twice, and it gave Wanda an incredibly sour taste in her mouth that the fate of the universe would once again lie in this maniac's hands. She wanted nothing to do with him, despite the confidence of her smirking comrades. Eventually, she felt the Vision's eyes leave her and she did not hear his voice again. She figured it was for the best, because not only did she seem alone in her dislike of Tony, but no one seemed to share her concern that a group of terrestrial warriors were going to engage in some sort of space battle that none of them were trained for.

Finally the Vision spoke up, and Wanda wondered if he wasn't the telepathic member of the group after all.

"So are we actually prepared for space travel? I do not recall any extra training sessions, and I do not expect there will be time for any now."

The other Avengers were laughing at one of Tony's snide remarks but stopped when the Vision spoke.

Natasha responded, managing to hold her smile in place. "You'd be surprised what you've been trained for."


	5. Chapter 5

Tony Stark made his way over to Thor and was asking insanely detailed scientific questions regarding intergalactic travel that Thor was not completely able to answer. He kept gesturing to his hammer and shaking his head, but Tony was not getting the hint. Bruce Banner would be the only one with the brains to really engage in the conversation was digging for, but he was still unreachable. Steve rolled his eyes at the scene.

"Look, we should get back to the training room," Steve said, and Agent Hill nodded and began leading the Avengers back through the windowless halls of S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. One by one they all walked silently through the hall, except Tony who continued to chatter at Thor, but when Clint turned around, he saw Nick Fury had disappeared.

Clint saw Natasha was doing that thing with her mouth where her lips pursed to one side. He touched her shoulder to stop her and let the rest of the group pass by them.

"What's wrong," Clint said, though the words came out more as a demand than a question.

"I'm fine," Natasha said, but Clint saw through her.

"I think you're any number of things, but fine isn't one of them today," he said.

Natasha sighed and looked to see that the others were out of earshot before saying, "I think we're out of our element if we try to catch them in space before they reach Earth."

Clint did not disagree, if he was being honest with himself. "What's our alternative?"

Natasha lowered her voice. "We need to let them into our planet if we stand any chance at all. Wanda was right about our lack of training. You don't just decide to become an astronaut and blast off into space."

"But you told her—"

"I know what I told her," Natasha was sharp. "It's not like we can just suggest letting aliens invade our planet because going into space seems a little difficult."

"We're a team, Romanoff," Clint said. "It's time we start acting like it and not run off into fights we're not ready for."

Agent Hill popped her head from around the corner of the hallway. "Guys, we need you in the situation room. We've got a problem already."

"Shit," Clint muttered as he and Natasha started running down the hall.

When they arrived back in the conference room, no one bothered to take a seat around the large table. Everyone stood nervously or paced. Steve pointed at a radar projected on a screen that illustrated one vicious red dot moving closer to the center of the image.

"We've got company coming already," he said, and he folded his massive arms across his chest.

"We're not going to catch them in time," Natasha realized, taking in the coordinates of the invaders. Her voice masked her emotion, but Clint could tell she was starting to relax. "They'll be here before we'll reach the edge of our atmosphere."

"We've got to try," Tony said. His joking demeanor had faded, and his jaw was starting to tense.

"Well, what are we looking at here?" Rhodes said. "One spacecraft, which can't carry more than, what, twenty-five men?"

"It's not men that we're up against," Thor said. "I've fought these creatures. They're undead and unstoppable, and I guarantee they're not on that ship."

"Then, what is coming on that ship?" Clint asked. "Thanos?"

"Only one way to find out," Steve said determinedly. "Let's move."

"Wait a minute," Wanda interjected. "Let me just make this clear, we're jumping into a spaceship to battle another spaceship without knowing what we're fighting against?"

"That's about it, Maximoff," Tony said already moving out of the room. "For once, I'm with the Captain. Let's get out of here."

Clint thought Wanda was going to pounce on Tony until she suddenly looked very surprised and snapped to face the Vision across the room. They locked eyes on each other for a long moment, and Clint kept looking between the two… something was very fishy there. But he didn't have time to think about it because they were all sprinting back to their freshly borrowed spaceship.

The door had hardly lifted when the Avengers all sprang aboard. Clint slipped into the pilot's seat and Natasha sat beside him as his co-pilot. He examined the controls—countless switches and buttons and levers, only half of which he recognized, but it seemed familiar enough. He managed to turn on the aircraft easily, a foreign engine rumbling to life around him. A quick glance behind him saw that the other Avengers were in place and in costume, seatbelts buckled with faces stony and ready for whatever they were about to face. Steve and Wilson sat together, legs tensed and ready to spring as trained soldiers would do. Behind them sat the Vision and Wanda, silent yet with a chemistry that made Clint snort in disapproval. Tony was buckled in beside Rhodes, who seemed to be trying to ignore Tony's incessant chatting, though it seemed to be more out of nervousness than jubilation. Thor sat alone with a noticeable absence beside him. Damn, Bruce was going to be missed on this mission. But he knew of another Avenger that was missed, permanently unreachable. Pietro Maximoff deserved to be with them, with his sister. He'll never forget the man that saved his life on their last mission. Perhaps that's where his protectiveness for Wanda stemmed from. He owed the kid.

Turning back to the dashboard, Clint took them into the air. Steering the giant ship with only a little difficulty.

"We're going to meet them in ten minutes," Natasha said, pointing to the radar.

"Maybe less," Clint said, and he blasted the ship forward to an incredibly fast speed, taking them higher into the air.

A few minutes later, a black spherical ship materialized before them, flaming hot from entering the Earth's atmosphere and making a powerful descent toward the planet's surface. Clint grunted as he twisted the ship around to chase the foreign object charging toward Earth. He worked to get the enemy ship into his line of fire, but if he missed, he'd be firing directly at the ground below, damaging who knows how many buildings and potentially hurting civilians. He didn't even know what kind of weapons the ship was equipped with.

"I can't get a clear shot," Clint admitted.

"We're on it," Tony said in his ear, and Clint jumped. He hadn't realized he had even stood up let alone was right behind him. Then Tony gestured to Rhodes and the two men opened the plane door, closing the masks of their robotic suits and jumping out of the ship as Iron Man and the War Machine. The ship was starting to reach clouds and Clint tried to pull the spacecraft up out of its nosedive to let the two iron suits do their thing, only to find the ship unresponsive.

"It's not pulling up," Clint announced. Then he looked at Natasha, the warrior trained in so many ways he had no way of knowing them all. "Do it."

Natasha did not hesitate. They swiftly switched seats, and Natasha pressed a few buttons and switches. She yanked the steering as hard as she could. The ship was enveloped in clouds now, but Clint could see Tony and Rhodes dodging in and out around the black sphere, sending blasts of energy from their robotic hands at it in an effort to destroy it, or at least slow it down. Then miraculously, the plane began to tail upward, just as the terrain below came into view. But the ground was too close now, and it was still growing closer.

"Prepare for impact," Natasha grunted. She shoved the steering to the right and they veered for open water.

Clint heard frantic foreign muttering and suddenly the aircraft was engulfed in red light. The ship splashed into the water but did not sink.

"Get off the stupid spacecraft!" Wanda shouted from behind them. The red light was pouring from her outstretched hands and surrounded the bottom of the ship. She was keeping them afloat, and it was causing her great strain from the looks of it. Clint nodded quickly and gestured to Natasha to leave. She open the aircraft door and swan-dived into the water, with Clint not far behind her. Thor jumped not long after them, followed by Wilson and Steve. There was a long pause, and then the aircraft gave a great groan and the red force field disappeared.

"Shit," Clint muttered. The ship was starting sink, and neither Wanda nor the Vision had emerged. Clint was about ready to swim back to the ship himself when the Vision darted out of the ship like a red flash, Wanda in his arms looking barely conscious. He kept flying, heading for shore. Clint rolled his eyes—land was quite a swim away. Steve was already executing a perfect freestyle stroke on his way to shore. Wilson took to the air with his mechanical wings.

"I think I can handle taking one of you with me," Wilson said, hovering over the water. "Any takers?"

After a small hesitation, Thor raised a tentative hand in the air, and Wilson laughed. "You got it, big guy." The Falcon flew low, and Thor took hold of one of his straps as the two soared into the air.

Clint and Natasha were alone in the water, treading lightly and grinning at each other. Figures, the demi-god is the one that doesn't have to swim all the way to shore.

"Just like Budapest," Natasha smiled, and Clint laughed as they started making their way to land.


	6. Chapter 6

Wanda opened her heavy eyes. That aircraft was massive, what made her think she could hold an object so huge? And the Vision wouldn't get off the plane without her. She snapped her head with a start to find the Vision sitting comfortably beside her, cross-legged, as if they were having a lazy day at the beach. But Wanda did find his presence soothing. She needed another moment to regain her strength, and she appreciated that he didn't seem to be in much of a hurry. She tried to push herself into a sitting position, only to be pressed firmly back into the sandy shore.

"You need rest," the Vision said, his hand on her shoulder.

Wanda hated being told what to do, but she did not resist. She noticed he continued to hold onto her, and she didn't mind. In fact, instinctively, she placed her hand over his, keeping him there. She was surprised to feel how warm he was, and hated herself for that thought. He had a beating heart, didn't he? He was as warm-blooded as she was.

The Vision hadn't listened to her as she shouted for him to jump out of the sinking plane, but he had also saved her life. She had collapsed. She'd never done that before, but he was there to make sure she left the plane too, alive. This wasn't the first time he'd rescued her. She remembered Sokovia and Ultron's destruction of the capital city. She'll never forget it, or the brother she lost there. Looking into the Vision's eyes, he seemed to see her own pain. And she saw that he was grappling with something of his own. Neither could look away.

And then the Vision was smiling. "What is this?"

Wanda sat up, and he didn't stop her. "I think I know."

She cupped his face in her hand and kissed him gently. The gesture was so small but so powerful. When she pulled away, the Vision was in awe as if seeing her for the first time. He was scanning her whole body, but finally he stared back into her eyes. He stroked her cheek lightly.

"This is a sweet moment, but right now we've got a universe to save."

The Vision and Wanda didn't jump at the sound of Tony Stark's voice. He was smirking, having just emerged from the foliage behind them and slid the mask back from his face. Rhodes, also mask-less stepped out not long after him. Wanda felt a zen kind of blissfulness, and she didn't even want to kick Tony in the genitals for interrupting such a scene. Something inside her knew this was going to be more than a glimmering temporary moment—no, this was something much more long-lasting. The pessimist in her gnawed at her own confidence in this fact, but for once she was able to silence it and stand up with her comrades, ready for whatever was coming their way.

"The spaceship is about 800 yards that way," Rhodes said, pointing back the way he and Tony came.

"Where's the rest of the team?" There was an edge in Tony's voice, and he frantically scanned the shoreline.

Then, as if on cue, Thor dropped to the ground in front of them, falling heavily, clear out of the sky, and kicking up swirls of sand in his wake. The answer to the question on all of their tongues was answered when Wilson landed neatly beside him a moment later.

"You could have placed me gently on the ground," Thor said, shaking sand from his mane of hair.

"I warned you I was going to let you go," Wilson shrugged.

"Five seconds does not qualify as a warning," Thor retorted, but he wasn't actually upset. A forty-foot drop hardly shakes up a demigod. Steve was in sight, making powerful strokes into the water toward the shore, looking hardly fatigued at all.

"Romanoff and Barton?" Rhodes asked.

"Swimming their way over here now," Wilson said.

"We shouldn't leave that spaceship unwatched for long," Tony said. "Rhodey, will you wait here with the lovebirds and wait for the other two to get their pokey asses over here?"

Rhodes nodded. Neither the Vision nor Wanda seemed irked at the way they were referenced, but Wilson raised his eyebrows at them.

"The rest of you with me. Here that, Captain? Follow me, buddy," Tony shouted. Steve was wading his way over to the group, drenched and panting. At Tony's call, he raised a hand in acknowledgment and broke into a jog to join them.

As the rest of the group departed into the foliage beyond the shore, Rhodes turned to Wanda and the Vision.

"So what the hell happened out there?" he asked.

"We were discovering each other," the Vision said simply. Wanda couldn't stop herself from grinning.

"Wow, okay, not what I was talking about," Rhodes said. "I meant the fact that we had a loaner spaceship from an intergalactic police force and now we don't."

"Couldn't get out of the nosedive, but Natasha got us to the water," Wanda explained.

"And Wanda kept the spacecraft from sinking while everyone escaped," the Vision added. Wanda had a feeling he spoke up because he knew she wouldn't. It was a particularly human instinct to do something like that, she noted.

"At least everyone's okay," Rhodes said, turning back to the sea to look for Clint and Natasha. He relaxed when he could see two spots moving steadily toward them.

"But we could ask the same of you, Colonel," Wanda said. "What happened with the other spaceship?"

"Well, with the velocity from entering the Earth's atmosphere there wasn't much we could do to stop it from crashing into the surface," he said. "We backed off as it made impact to avoid any potential explosions with the collision. The craft landed safely, strangely enough, but as Stark and I surveyed the craft, nothing happened. Nothing went in, nothing came out. We're not sure what to make of it, but we don't want to lean back on our haunches on this one."

The three of them turned back to the sea to watch Clint and Natasha, but Wanda froze. They'd all forgotten something immensely important. If Thanos was after the infinity gem, that meant he was after the Vision. He was in very real danger, more than any of them. What would happen to him if he lost it? She didn't want to think about it, but she couldn't help it. She kept her face stony and her eyes on the ocean, but suddenly she felt a warm hand wrap around hers. She found herself weaving her way into the Vision's mind, but he didn't bring any words for her this time. That physical gesture was enough. She took a deep breath, knowing she needed to redirect the team's efforts somehow. But she joined Rhodes in the wake water to help Clint and Natasha walk the rest of the way to shore.


	7. Chapter 7

Nebula grinned. She heard voices outside her capsule and she waited. The voices went from strained whispers to casual chatter. Whoever was outside had relaxed, which is right where she wanted them. She'll let them have their false sense of security. She could almost hear their thoughts—maybe whatever was onboard died, maybe the capsule was empty to begin with, maybe this is a decoy. She snorted: humans were so predictable.

Someone shouted a greeting—more people were gathering. Nebula knew it was time. She pressed a series of buttons within the capsule and heard Thanos's grunt through her speakers from lightyears away.

"I'm ready, Father," she said.

"Then begin," he responded. His voice crackled as he disconnected.

Though Nebula couldn't see outside her windowless capsule, she felt the ground rumble beneath her. Thanos was using his all-powerful gems, and Nebula gave a cruel laugh. These humans had no idea what they were up against.

The voices had fallen silent as the earth moved. Then the rumbling stopped. Suddenly the voices shouted, and loud bangs and explosions erupted around her: the sounds of battle. Nebula knew her cue.

With a war cry, she kicked the door off the capsule and leapt onto the soft earth. This planet was moist and fragile, she noticed, as her boots hit mud. Her lungs felt full as she breathed the humid air, but she wasted no time in sprinting to join the battle. She was surrounded by dozens of gray, human-like creatures with glowing red eyes. They were more disgusting than fleshy humans, she noted, but she knew they were her allies. They hardly faltered as a group of costumed earthlings tried to fight them, to stop them from leaving the clearing and making their way to the rest of island. Nebula wanted to watch with relish as Thanos's undead army ripped apart these idiotic Avengers, as she heard they called themselves. But she had a job to do.

She locked eyes with a blue-eyed man with a shield.

"We've got company," he said determinedly.

"No kidding," said a man who flew by in a red and gold iron suit.

The iron man sent a blast of energy toward her from his hand, but she dodged it easily. She saw another man in a red, white, and blue metal suit zoom her way, prepared to do the same thing, but she was quick. Nebula leapt into the air and grabbed hold of the man. He zigzagged through the air, but Nebula gripped the suit tightly, refusing to be flung away like a meddlesome insect. She wrestled with the man as he flew high above the trees. Finally, she plunged her metallic arm into the heart of the suit, grabbing whatever intricate electronics she could and yanking her hand back out. The effect was immediate. The thrusts that kept the suit airborne malfunctioned, and the glowing lights in the eye sockets dimmed. The man fell back to the earth, and Nebula released him, letting herself land in a tree with a cackle. To her disappointment, a man wearing large wings caught the metal-suited man before he could crash, and he was placed gently on the ground.

Nebula roared and flung herself from the tree back into battle. A large yellow-haired man charged toward her, swinging a hammer over his head, but she pulled two blades from their sheaths on her back. His charge became defensive as Nebula made to slice his face. She knew she didn't pierce flesh, but she could swear she had nicked off a lock of golden hair. He bellowed as he swung toward her again, but Nebula slid past him. As much as she would enjoy beheading the blond beast, this was not the Avenger she sought for this mission.

An arrow pierced into her metal arm, and Nebula snarled, furiously looking for her attacker. Finally she noticed a man about a hundred yards away poised to fire another arrow. Something in the man's eye told her this was not a man who misfired. She charged toward him anyway, sprinting at the arrow now zooming closer to her. She slashed her blades into the air, and the arrow split in two, the halves moving in different directions. Nebula was nearly on the man now, and he wasn't going to release another arrow in time. She was eager to see his blood mingle with this planet's soft dirt.

Suddenly, Nebula froze. It was as if she weren't alone in her own mind. The man was no longer in front of her. She saw Thanos before her in his gigantic might. Just behind him stood Gamora, smirking and beautiful in ways that Nebula knew she never would be. She felt small, weak, and useless, and her knees buckled and hit the ground. Thanos sneered.

"You have failed me yet again," he said.

"Forgive me," Nebula wailed. She hated the way her voice wavered. "Father, please."

"You make me sick," Thanos continued. "And to think I once called you my daughter."

Nebula felt nauseous. It was everything she ever feared. She couldn't bear this abandonment. And there was Gamora, welcomed back to Thanos's side, always forgiven despite her great betrayal.

"Please." Nebula couldn't think of anything else to say. "Please."

But then Nebula screamed with rage. These images weren't real. She had a mission to accomplish. Earth's dirty surface appeared once again. The man with the arrows was gone, but Nebula spun around to see a skinny woman with long dark hair. She looked stunned, as if she were caught in the middle of an act. This woman had strange power, Nebula knew, and she was furious. She roared and slashed at the woman. The woman didn't shout, just widened her eyes in surprise as Nebula's blades sliced across her abdomen.

"NO!"

A flash of red flew past her, and Nebula saw a man in a cape lift the woman and carry her away into the sky. Nebula was shaking with fury still, but she gave a small smile. The pair disappeared into a red spot on the horizon, but she had seen all she needed to see. The red man had a small yellow gem in his forehead, just as Thanos described. Though the man had gone, Nebula swelled with purpose. She had a target.

But she was still shaking and she knew it wasn't just with anger. The woman's power had affected her in an immense way, and she was disgusted with herself. Absentmindedly, she yanked the arrow from her arm. The target was gone, but she'd try again. She hit a button on her arm and she recognized Thanos's grunt of acknowledgement.

"Target spotted," she said. "Retreat for now."

Thanos grunted again and with a crackle, he was gone. She turned to see the gray bodies falling back, disappearing into the shadows of the trees. The Avengers seemed flustered at the sudden retreat. The blond brute spun around wildly before his eyes met Nebula's. He smirked triumphantly when he saw Nebula was empty-handed, and she sneered. If only he knew this was no victory for the Avengers.

The sun was setting, and Nebula took advantage of the lengthening shadows to disappear into the trees. Let them think they won, she thought with a smirk. The war had only just begun.


End file.
